Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Since November is Picture Book month, I've been checking my stacks for picture books that I have not read. It's also been great for checking for repairs or weeding. I occasionally miss one during inventory at the end of the school year. I found a few that needed to be read.

Keep Reading!

Friday, November 8, 2013

A couple weeks ago I was contacted to review a book, Mallory in the Spotlight by Laurie Friedman.

At first I was nervous about reading a book for an author and publishing a review. What if I didn't like it? What if I thought the book was terrible? What if nothing! I really enjoyed it. This book will be perfect for my second - fifth grader who love Judy Moody books. Laurie Friedman writes this adorable series a fourth grader, Mallory, and her best friend, Mary Ann. I read book 14 in the series, Mallory in the Spotlight.

In this book, Mallory tries out for a part in the school's musical Annie. Mallory also learns a very valuable lesson about true friendship. I loved the way Ms. Friedman inserted little tidbits of information about musicals and defined terms for my students who have a very limited knowledge of the stage or a musical production. This book was full of girl drama which thrills my students. I will definitely be adding Mallory books to my school's library collection.

Ms Friedman is graciously giving away a copy of one her Mallory books. Enter below to win. Good luck. I'm sure you will enjoy Mallory as much as I did!

Keep Reading! I will...

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Fall is my favorite season. Beautiful colors, great weather, football..... In the library I love to read fall/autumn stories. One of my favorites is Fall Man by Lois Ehlert.

A few weeks ago I read a cute post from Teach Them To Fly. It was all about creating leaf men like Lois Ehlert's book. It was one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments for me. There are plenty of trees/leaves around my school or my house. I finally got around to reading Leaf Man with my Kindergarten students. They had a blast creating their own leaf men or women.

I had them drying on one of the middle shelves when my first grade class entered the library. Well of course they wanted to create a leaf man or leaf woman. Naturally I had to make the activity a little more challenging. (I was running low on leaves...) First graders were only allowed to pick one leaf, but they could create whatever they wanted. Our leaf critters turned out really cute.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Legend by Marie Lu. If you teach or have a middle school, get a copy of Legend for your readers. Loved it 4 1/2 stars. I could have done without the romance element. It wasn't needed. Maybe it will make more sense in the sequel, Prodigy. If you students liked Hunger Games, this is another great one.

This month is Picture Book Month and to help me reach my reading goal with my students, I'm going to read as many picture books as I can. Hey, all is fair in book love and reading war!

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen
Adorable story of a young girl who builds her own airplanes flying machines!

Bootsie Barker Bites by Barbara Bottner, illustrated by Peggy Rathmann.
Cute story about learning to play nice and dealing with bullies.

Old Henry by Joan W. Blos,illustrated by Stephen Gammell
I love Mr. Gammell's illustrations. This one is about an old man who moves into an old house. His neighbors begin to complain because he's not as neat as the rest of the neighborhood. Maybe being different is Ok?

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel
I never get to read Bad Kitty books! Why? They stay checked out! I sort of refused to check this one out again until I got to read it. It only took a couple minutes. Let's just say I would be a bad kitty too if I had to eat Whale Waffles?!? Very creative, Mr. Bruel. Your chapter books stay checked out also...

Willow by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan, illustrated by Cyd Moore
Willow is a student in Miss Hawthorn's art class where students are expected to only draw the way Miss Hawthorn tells them to draw. Until Willow... Willow influences Miss Hawthorn with her imagination and creativity.

Quilt Makers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, illustrated by Gail de Marcken
Beautiful! Great story about the power of giving.

Snowmen at Christmas and Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner. illustrated by Mark Buehner Cute little snowmen stories.

Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Jeff Mack
This one would be great for Pre-K or K students. Simple, repeating text and beautiful illustrations make this animal story perfect for a farm unit with the little guys. I also read the following Bunting books.

Dandelions by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Greg ShedSummer Wheels by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Thomas B. AllenThe Memory String by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted RandJin Woo by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Chris SoentpietI Like the Way You Are by Eve Bunting, illustrated by John O'BrienOur Library by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Maggie Smith

Keep Reading!!! You know I'll be cruising the Picture Book section in the library for unread books.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Listening:

My oldest son just walked though the house and turned on ESPN's sport center. (Of course, he left the room after a few minutes. Like I want to watch sports.... HA) Before he arose, for food, it was nice and quiet. Just listening to the hum of the heat pump. Love my boys!

Loving:

Time changes this weekend. We are going back to standard time. I'll miss it being daylight when I get home, but I hate leaving for work in the dark! I would say I'll enjoy the extra hour of sleep but I'll probably still get up tomorrow morning at 7 or what used to be 7...

Thinking:

I really need to clean house. I don't know about the rest of you, but during the school year it's hard to keep the dust under control. This fall we've had several spiders. I would much rather read than clean any day of the week!

Wanting:

I brought home Legend by Marie Lu. This one had been on a couple book orders and I finally got it in my library. Erin over at I'm Lovin Lit suggested it so I've got to read it! As soon as I finish, I want to read Maze Runner by James Dashner. It's just that I hate reading series when I can't read them all at once......

Needing:

We are taking a family trip the week of Thanksgiving. Actually, traveling with the boy's basketball team to a warm and beaching location for a tournament! I don't know about you, but I really need to shed just a couple two ten pounds before hitting the beach with teenagers!

Yummy Pin:

This was hard! Normally, I don't pin food. Didn't want to post a hot picture. You would have laughed if I really posted what I drool over... (books!) so I found the following: